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Book Chapter
The air inside a cloud can be very different from the air outside the cloud, not only because of the presence of cloud droplets and increased water va...
Book Chapter
Meteorologists collect data from multiple weather stations and instruments on Earth’s surface. The weather maps seen online and on TV are analyzed p...
Book Chapter
Riding the Wave of a Hurricane
Hurricanes are the most destructive storms on Earth. Hurricanes contain tremendous amounts of energy. When it appears that a hurricane is moving towar...
Book Chapter
The atmosphere is made up of a variety of gases, but it is gases like water vapor and carbon dioxide, which make up a small fraction of the air, that ...
Book Chapter
In this Activity, you will explore how gases can be dissolved in a liquid or solid, what influences how those gases are released from the liquid or so...
Book Chapter
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
ENSO refers to the periodic “shift” in sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean that affects climate in a large portion of the...
Book Chapter
Although we usually cannot feel the air, there are times when the force of the air is obvious. Differences in air pressure influence the wind as well ...
Book Chapter
The ozone layer refers to a region of the atmosphere about 15–30 km above Earth’s surface that contains a relative abundance of ozone (but still a...
Book Chapter
The Percentage of Oxygen in the Atmosphere
How do we know how much of each gas is in the atmosphere? We cannot see the individual atoms that make up the air and, even if we could, we would not ...
Book Chapter
Air Pollution and Environmental Equity
Airborne pollutants include “criteria” pollutants, such as ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and lead, ...
Book Chapter
At first, you may think the particles are the result of pollution. While much of the particulate matter in the atmosphere is the result of humans poll...
Book Chapter
Weather and the Redistribution of Thermal Energy
The weather that we observe, like the variations in temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation, is a consequence of the atmosphere’s response t...
Book Chapter
Why Is It Hotter at the Equator Than at the Poles?
For locations close to the equator, the Sun can get close to directly overhead. For locations close to the poles, the Sun never gets far above the hor...
Book Chapter
Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect
The “greenhouse effect” refers to how certain gases in the atmosphere (like carbon dioxide and water vapor) warm due to their absorption of infra...
Book Chapter
Which Gets Hotter: Light or Dark Surfaces?
On sunny summer days, is it better to wear light-or dark-colored clothing if you are trying to keep cool? Which type of clothing is best to wear on co...